External wall insulation is a popular home project, and for good reason. It's a great alternative to cavity wall insulation and makes a dramatic difference in properties. Whether you're looking to reduce carbon emissions or your energy bills, external wall insulation can help by improving your property's thermal performance.
But in order to benefit from all that external wall insulation brings, you must first pay for external wall insulation installation. This can be a costly process, one which not everyone can afford. Often, with eco-friendly home projects like this, the government offers government grants to help ease the financial burden.
Here's what you need to know about whether you're able to get a government grant to cover the cost of your external wall insulation installation.
External wall insulation can cost anywhere between £7,000 and £15,000 depending on the type and the size of the home. The cost may also be impacted by the cladding or render you choose to have installed over the external wall insulation.
Ultimately, the cost of each property will differ depending on the individual details of that home. However, if you're looking for averages, you can expect to pay the following prices for home insulation:
Now, while this is a lot of money, it is important to remember that not only will external wall insulation increase the energy efficiency of your home, thus reducing energy bills, but it will also increase sound resistance and potentially add value to your property!
Dig deeper: How Much Does External Wall Insulation Cost
Before you start looking into the available external wall insulation grants, it is worth figuring out whether your home is actually suitable for external wall insulation. Some homes are not and are better suited to cavity wall insulation (where insulation material is placed between the cavity walls) instead. If your property has cavity walls, the cavity wall properties simply mean that external wall insulation is not suitable.
In order to be suitable for external wall insulation, your property must be built out of solid brick, stone, or concrete. It cannot be a timber-frame property. The walls must be structurally sound and any repairs must have already been carried out. It cannot be a listed property, nor a property in a conservation area or world heritage site, and it must not have cavity walls or cavity wall insulation. Finally, in order for the external wall insulation installation to go well, you must have easy access to the outer walls.
If you're not sure whether your property has cavity walls or solid walls, there are a few ways to check. For brick-built properties built before 1924, it is most likely that you have solid walls. But to check, look at the layout of the brickwork. If you have square brick ends in the pattern, it is a solid wall. Alternatively, measure the thickness of the brick wall at doors and windows. Cavity walls are more than ten inches wide, whereas solid walls are thinner.
Assuming you hit all of the criteria before you start hiring professionals like the team at MisterRender, you should check with your local authority that you do not need to acquire planning permission first.
If you do need permission, fill out the necessary forms and wait for confirmation before you start on your external wall insulation. The permission you do get may dictate how thick your insulation is, as building regulations will need to be closely followed when you have insulation installed.
Uncover more: Does External Wall Insulation Require Planning Permission
In the UK there are lots of solid wall insulation grants, however, whether you're eligible for external wall insulation grants (or possibly even free external wall insulation) will depend on a number of factors. If you're interested in external wall insulation and aren't sure you can afford to insulate your external walls, here are some of the solid wall insulation grants available.
There is the ECO scheme which is funded by the UK's biggest energy suppliers and aims to provide subsidised or free insulation to low-income households and others. ECO stands for Energy Company Obligation and the scheme has been set up not only to lower energy bills but to help reduce the number of people in fuel poverty by removing the barrier to access energy saving methods.
There is £4 billion available as part of this scheme, and it will run until March 2026. Those who are eligible can receive between £7,000 and £20,000, covering 100% of the cost.
Are you wondering whether you qualify for free external wall insulation? Here's who can receive funding from the ECO scheme.
In the UK, under what is called the ECO scheme (or ECO4 scheme), low-income households are able to qualify for free grants. According to the ECO scheme, this is any household that has an annual household income of £31,000 or less, or those receiving qualifying benefits. If you receive:
Or if someone in your house is living with a long-term health issue, you may also be eligible. Additionally, those who claim child benefits and have a low household income (the thresholds are different than those listed above) are eligible.
You might also be eligible for the ECO scheme if you part own your home with a housing association - as long as you own over 50%. If you are a housing association tenant or you rent from the council you should speak to them about external wall insulation.
In order to receive the ECO scheme external wall insulation grants your property must have an energy performance certificate score of D, E, F, or G.
There is also the Great British Insulation scheme which targets low energy efficient households and those with low council tax bands. Through these external wall insulation grants, people can receive up to 75% of the cost of the insulation installation cost.
There are two groups of people who are eligible for the Great British Insulation Scheme external wall insulation grants. They are low-income households and general households.
Low-income households include:
The general group includes:
If you are eligible and fit into the first category, you can receive multiple energy-efficient improvements, whereas those who fit the second category will only be able to receive funds toward one type of insulation and may be required to cover some of the costs.
Alternatively, there is the Home Upgrade Grant which is a pilot scheme in Scotland that offers up to £10,000 for insulation material and other energy efficiency measures.
In Wales, there is the Nest Scheme which offers free advice and support on energy efficiency and energy efficient measures as well as free insulation and heating upgrades.
One of the most common reasons that people opt for external wall insulation, whether through external wall insulation grants or out of their own pocket is because of how much money solid wall insulation can save you in the long run.
On average, the energy saving trust estimates a detached house will save around £660 per year in energy bills alone after having solid walls insulated. A semi-detached house will save £380, a mid-terrace house can expect savings of around £225, and a detached bungalow can save £285.
Free external wall insulation is great, but why both with external wall insulation in the first place? Is there a reason that the government has created a wall insulation grant?
There are a number of benefits to all types of insulation, whether that is internal wall insulation, cavity wall insulation, or even loft insulation. But for homes with solid walls, solid wall insulation can make a huge difference to the comfort of the home, your bank account, and even the value of the property.
External wall insulation will save you hundreds of pounds per year in energy bills by keeping your home well-insulated. The insulating material used and applied to the walls will prevent you from feeling those pesky draughts that make their way through the home and will work just as well as internal solid wall insulation or cavity wall insulation to keep you toasty and comfy.
In addition to this, external wall insulation helps to improve sound resistance. This makes your property not only more energy efficient but quieter. It also means that you can be that little bit louder and not worry about strangers in the street hearing you!
By increasing your energy efficiency, external wall insulation helps to improve your EPC rating. In return, this boosts the value of your property. This means that should you decide to sell, you've got a little more money coming your way.
Find out more: Does External Wall Insulation Add Value To Your Home
A home that is more energy efficient naturally uses and releases less carbon emissions. This means that once you've received your external wall insulation grant and installing external wall insulation is all done, you will have a lower carbon footprint.
If you can't have cavity wall insulation, the options are solid wall insulation. Internal wall insulation, though, takes a chunk of your home away. You lose square footage to the insulating material, whereas with external wall insulation, you get to keep all of your indoor space!
Rather than working with the inside of the home, external insulation involves insulation boards being attached to the outer wall and then covered in render. The thickness will not impact the space available in your home.
The final step of external wall insulation is to apply render or cladding to the home. This will be included in any wall insulation grant you get and will make the exterior walls of your home look brand new. So not only are you getting support to make insulating external walls easier, but you'll also get a brand-new style.
You can choose from a huge list of colours and styles to have once you've had insulation installed, all of which will make your home look wonderful.
While you can get external wall insulation grants to help with the cost and there are a number of benefits, there are a few downsides to EWI. Generally speaking, though, they are greatly outweighed by the benefits and the ability to get incredible grants to pay the way.
Some of the downsides of external wall insulation are:
So where do you begin? If you want to get those heating costs down now, what's the first step?
If you're looking to apply for the ECO scheme free external wall insulation grants, then you will need to head over to the ECO4 website to see if you're eligible and to check that you have a property suitable for external wall insulation. You must apply through energy suppliers in order to receive funding from the ECO scheme
For those more interested in the Great British Insulation scheme, you should also head over to the website to check your eligibility. The organisation should then guide you through getting your insulation grants and installing external wall insulation.
With both schemes, they will check your home's energy efficiency and will need some proof of your income, whether you're on any qualifying benefits, and may need to come to see the property itself. Only once they have all the information will they agree to the external wall insulation grant.
Once you've received confirmation that you are eligible and will be receiving a solid wall insulation grant, you might be worrying about what the process of external wall insulation installation is like.
With the team at MisterRender, we will always make sure you know what's going on every step of the way and will do all we can to ensure your life is minimally interrupted. The process usually involves erecting scaffolding and using electricity and water from the home. Other than that, our team will be able to work without needing to get in your way.
They will apply the insulation boards to the property, ensuring that the whole wall is covered and that there are no gaps near eaves or windows. When that's done, the cladding will begin. This will further improve your energy efficiency and make your home look bright and new.
Learn more: How Is External Wall Insulation Installed
